This is a curious story and one that has received little attention in America. It concerns a young Australian woman Schapelle Corby, who right now is cooling her heels in Kerobokan Prison in Bali, Malaysia. In 2004 Schapelle Corby flew to Bali on vacation, she was planning to spend her time with her sister Mercedes who is married to a Bali man. A two week vacation at the beach, what could be better?
Bali went from paradise to hades in no time flat for Schapelle. When she arrived in Bali she was asked by customs officials to open a Boogy Board bag that she had and a ten-pound bag of cannabis was flattened next to the board. Though she says she knew nothing about the marijuana, Shapelle was immediately arrested.
Here we are 4 years later, Schapelle is languishing in an Indonisian jail, all of her appeals have been exhausted, and the only chance she has is by an act of clemency by Indonesia’s president.
HBO has produced a very thought provoking documentary in Ganja Queen. It would be easy to create a shockumantary, as many have before “Innocent Australian/American/Brit (name your country of origin) Unjustly Jailed In Thailand/China/Aruba (name your country). HBO have taken the high road, and have taken the time to explore the possible scenarios.
Was her luggage tampered with? If it was, who did the tampering? There are a small number of people that might be the perpetrator. Or was she acting as a ‘mule’? That option seems less attractive, she does not fit the profile, and she was traveling with other family members.
If she is innocent then this documentary offers a really serious warning to all international travelers. For years now we have been asked at the checkout counter if we packed our own bag, and has it been out of our view since that time.
If Schapelle is innocent, it is because she did not follow those rules.
There is also a ‘wild card’ theory, and one that has the luggage handlers in Sydney, Australia fit to be tied. Did the Luggage Handlers put the drugs in? The Union involved is just hopping mad, as you can see in this news item.
Or was it a family member who added the drugs? Or is she guilty as charged?
This is a must see TV program, and one that takes that extra step to explore more than the prima facie facts. You can catch Ganja Queen at 9pm on Monday June/30 on HBO.
Simon Barrett
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20 users commented in " TV Preview: HBO Documentary – Ganja Queen "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackBali is in Indonesia (not Malaysia)
I have seen the documentary Ganja Queen and was outraged at the lack of real evidence against Ms Corby. I think Australia has not done enough to help free her. Before seeing this documentary I had always wanted to go to Bali - now I think it should be blacklisted.
I have seen the Documentary..And I believe in her innocence,I have also went on the home page to save Schapelle Corby.and hope to contact her to tell not to give up..we R all praying for her..it is such a tragedy.
She did it.
She sure did - common knowledge in Oz and Bali.
first and foremost my prayers go out to corby.shes alone in a third world jail,what must dat be like?i believe she is innocent,who in this day and age is dumb enought to think yu can get on a plane with with a vial of painkillers nevertheless 10 pounds of ganja c’mon any level headed person knows she was framed.theyre had to be a bigger source paying those lads in sydnet airport to get it thru and they used common folks luggage to do so .why wasnt the bag finger printed to see if her prints wereon it?i can go on with inconsistencies on the bali goverments part they know shes not guilty ,but they ceased the moment and made a statement with her to you and me !dont come to bali with drugs in your bag wheter yours or not cause yu will not be comin back home.period.corby our thoughts and prayers go out to you. ps and to the two morons mesta and boff what documentary did yu watch ?
I think someone who was smuggling drugs would not choose to go through security at TWO airports.
I am never going to Bali - in fact - you couldn’t pay me to go to a place that prosecutes innocent people in a Kangaroo court and then lets child prostitution be conducted openly in the streets - what kind of culture is this?
I was disgusted and it moved me to the point of not ever wanting to travel abroad again
DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY. PRAYING FOR A BETTER OUT COME. IT’S LIKE WHAT CONTRIVED SAID GOING THRU TWO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS. IN AUSTRALIA U WOULD FIQURE W/ NATIONAL SECURITY ON THE LINE AND TERRORISM, THEY SHOULD OF CHECKED HER BAGS FOR ANY WEAPONS AND NARCOTICS BEFORE SHE OR HER BAGS GOT ON THE PLANE. BAGS GO THRU X-RAY MACHINES IF IT’S BOARDING THE PLANE OR CHECKING IT IN AT THE FRONT HERE IN THE USA YOU CAN’T EVEN TAKE A PISS WITHOUT SOMEONE KNOWING,AT ANY AIRPORT THAT I;VE BEEN IN. SOMEONE NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS CRAP. AUSTRALIA/U.S./BRITISH GOVERNMENT SOMEONE. TAKE CARE AND GOD BLESS.
I watched the HBO special for the first time tonight, and whether or not this woman knew about the marijuana, this much is for certain: The legal system (or what passes for it) in Indonesia is scarily incompetent, and befitting of the “Banana Republic” stereotype given to countries like this one. A complete joke.
The permanent grin on the face of the Customs Officer who busted Corby at the Bali airport is creepy. Dude knows something that we don’t?
There is no way in hell I’ll ever travel to that back-ass-wards country.
Whether Colby is factually guilty or not, she certainly isn’t legally guilty. The handling of marijuana violates rules of evidence (although apparently not in Indonesia). I thought it was interesting to watch Indonesian citizens carrying placards demanding Colby’s death. This reminded me as much of the United States as it did a poor third world country. I’d like to hear more about Colby’s guilt being common knowledge (from Mesta). Again, how does common knowledge consitute legal guilt?
I thought it was very sad. I do not believe she would have taken it through 2 airports in todays day and age. She was set up. I travel a lot but this has made really reconsider places like Bali.
I too have seen the documentary-Never have wanted to visit the Indonesian country-I think if she really wanted to sell the stuff she would have tried to come the the good ole US of A-our drug dealers get off. She obviously was set up. I agree, that customs official knows something-when she checked in her bag it was out of her sight-why are there no cameras?
Want to go to a beach for a vacation? Anywhere in Cali is better than Bali!!!!
My thoughts and prayers go out to her and her family.
I watched this documentary the other night and could not get to sleep after watching it. My heart goes out to Schappel and her family. I cannot understand why the Priminister ofaustrailia is not doing anything to get her freed immediately. There is absolutely not enought proof and she is obviously being used as a scapegoat. Why wasnt pres.Bush mentioned in this documentary? How is she doing now and is anyone currently working on getting her freed? The indonesians are hurting themselves and most certainly their economy. I will never go to a place like that for the rest of my life. Anybodys luggage can readily and easily be broken into.
I juist recently watched the HBO doc. on Schapelle Corby “Ganja Queen”, and was horrified. I think the Bali Justice system and the judges should be taken in frontof a fireing squad. I could not believe the lack of help from the prime Minister of Australia, thats just down right “F*@ked Up”!!! That poor girl is innocent, evidence was brought forward about crooked baggage handlers and the Bali Justice system ignored it. Damn those Judges are stright “STUPID”!! My pryaers are with you Schapelle for a early release and a full pardon and apology from the Government of Bali for being so incrdibly ignorant and stupid, basically dumb as dirt!!!
Americans - I know you are wary of propaganda, and let me tell you that the Australian media has been in overdrive, pumping out propaganda about Ms Corby for the last 3 years.
It is NOT common “knowledge” in Australia that she “did it”. It is a common belief. This belief has been created by the corrupt Australian media who have about as much credibilty as tabloid gossip magazines. There is not one shred of evidence to link Corby or her family to the drugs in her bag. Australian police have explained this time and time again, yet the media keep running their tabloid stories.
This is propaganda. Propaganda designed to turn the tide against Ms Corby so that people will stop protesting to the government.
The media has no regard for human life. While Corby was sitting through her appeals, the media was spreading more rumours about her family, which resulted in her sentence being increased from 15 to 20 years.
I am horrified, sickened, & outraged. It is unthinkable what that girl & her family are going through. I will never travel to Indonesia. Ever.
so, uh, if any of you have been following this:
http://www.theage.com.au/national/convicted-drug-dealer-tells-of-corby-smuggling-racket-20080712-3e6h.html
good job HBO.
I too have seen the documentary on Shappelle and was left just utterlly speechless. Those who know about transporting anything thru the airport know that when u check-in, u are getting checked out, very, very thoroughly. To expect the general public to believe that she actually considered to take that amt. of weed thru not 1 but 2 INTERNATIONAL airports and make it all the way to another country without being caught is totally f@%&ed up. In todays world you cant even transport toothpaste without getting questioned, reprimanded, in fact when u do get caught with those type of items, you usually get the “condescending” look frm security because yiou should’ve known better. I hope that Shappelle gets some help frm somewhere, someone, at this point I don’t care what side of the law they’re on, because the “law” obviously didn’t work for Shappelle. Hang in there girl !!!!!!!
I’m not an investigator but common sense reveals that this young lady was set up. I find it hard to believe that anyone would be stupid enough to pack 10 lbs. of cannabis in a clear bag, in plain view, in an unlocked piece of luggage, travel ten hours through two terminals with family to visit a sister!! Give me a break, actually give Shappelle a break!! This is yet another horrible example of an innocent person being used as a mule for drug dealers. The Bali justice system (for lack of a better term) is extremely corrupt. There is a seedy blackmarket which includes bribary, child prostitution, child labor and of course drugs. I saw these things first hand when I traveled to Bali with my family in the early 90’s. My son was approached by a drug dealer right in front of our hotel!! If the Bali officals were paid off, the Shappelle case would have never surfaced because it’s about padding the pockets of greedy, corrupt officials, not justice!!
I saw the documentary and felt very badly for Shappelle. But the blurb at the end about the father’s friend really has me wondering about her or her family’s innocence. I keep reading “she was set up” And that only makes me wonder why and who would “set her up?” The whole thing is very fishy.
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